Self-management training for children with reading problems: Effects on reading performance and sustained attention

Abstract

Fifth-graders identified as “poor readers” were randomly assigned to a self-management or a modeling control condition. The self-management treatment consisted of a slightly modified version of Meichenbaum's (Meichenbaum & Goodman, 1971) self-instructional procedure, i.e., five sequential steps during which task-oriented verbalizations were gradually faded to covert speech. The modeling control condition resembled a tutorial session, with the instructor modeling self-management task-approach behaviors without prompting subjects to perform them. All subjects were exposed to the same materials, tasks, and trainers, who were kept “blind” regarding the purpose of the study. The results indicated that students receiving self-management training performed better than the control group on a reading task. Moreover, self-management subjects committed fewer errors and manifested greater inhibitory control over their behavior on a measure of sustained attention. A postexperimental transfer measure of children's teaching style of a peer who had not participated in the study furthermore showed that only the experimental subjects consistently employed varied aspects of the self-management program.